Hueneme Beach closed for 72 hours after raw sewage spill on Sunday

A sewage spill off the coast of Port Hueneme has closed beaches two miles to either side of the plant.
MATTHEW SAINT/STAR STAFF

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Visitors to Hueneme Beach went into the water Monday despite a warning from Ventura County that more than 200,000 gallons of raw sewage had flowed into the ocean.(Photo: JOHN SCHEIBE/THE STAR)Buy Photo

Mike Parra took advantage of Monday's sunny weather and headed to Hueneme Beach with a group of friends to go paddle boarding.

When he arrived at the beach around noon, Parra said lifeguards warned him about a nearby sewage spill a day earlier in which more than 200,000 gallons of raw sewage had gone into the sea from Oxnard's water treatment plant.

"I'm not bothered by it," Parra, 17, of Oxnard, said as he took a short break Monday afternoon. "The water seems fine."

As Parra spoke, Oxnard city worker Rudy Camacho carried a sign along the beach that read, "Warning Keep Out - Contaminated With Sewage Possible Health Hazard."

Camacho, along with other city workers, were posting the signs around 2 p.m. Monday less than 24 hours after authorities with the Ventura County Environmental Health Division ordered the beach and others nearby including Ormond closed after 219,000 gallons of raw sewage went into the ocean there.

Authorities ordered the beach closed at 6 p.m. Sunday for 72 hours because of the spill from the Oxnard pipeline, which empties into the ocean about a mile out from the coast, Elizabeth Huff, a manager with the county's environmental health agency, said Monday.

The pipeline normally carries treated water into the ocean, Huff said, noting that the untreated sewage went in instead because of a power outage and subsequent failure of the backup generators.

She said county officials ordered the closure of beaches about two miles in either direction from the plant. This includes the area around Hueneme Pier where Parra and others were swimming Monday afternoon.

Huff said the warning signs would be taken down once the water quality meets standards for cleanliness, something officials expect should happen by Wednesday evening.

Scott Shoemaker, a 59-year-old lifeguard at Hueneme Beach who lives in Silver Strand, said on Monday that he's been coming to the beach there for as long as he can remember.

Shoemaker said he went into the ocean Monday morning, not knowing about Sunday's spill.

"It's not the worst thing that could happen," Shoemaker said of Sunday's spill. He said he might still go back into the water even after learning about the spill, although he would be more careful.